horn rod too tight...

[Paul]

How tight should the light switch feel?
I "restored" the steering wheel in my '30,
Pulled the column, put new advance, throttle and horn rods in and put it all back in the car.
The horn rod went in kind of tight, I thought with a bit of use it would loosen up a bit, but now that's all in I should have freed it up some as its quite stiff to turn.
Afraid old gear oil in the shaft is acting like glue... grrr..

[Jerry in Shasta]

Does turning the steering wheel turn the light on?

If it does I used a .45 caliber bore brush with some wd40 to clean the steering shaft
hole.

Worked for me.

JB

[Paul]

Turning the wheel does not turn turn the lights on..
Good tip about the brush..
Hate to have to pull the column again though..

[Mitch//pa]

did you putv in the upper horn rod bushing?/

the repo rods need to be sanded at the top..

[Paul]

Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..

[Mitch//pa]

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Originally Posted by Paul

Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..

i used 80 grit sand paper at the top of the rod.. spun free when i was done..
it didnt take to much

[Marshall V. Daut]

Most of the time with repo light/horn rods, it's the upper two inches that bind. The repo shaft is ever-so much thicker than originals. Also, the opening in the shaft swells a bit from the steering wheel nut being over-tightened at one time during its life. You might try pulling the rod out a foot or two inside the passenger compartment and sand the last two inches of the rod (up to the bottom of the light knob. Use 80 grit and really go to town on it. Occasionally try dropping the rod back into place and see if it turns any easier. Keep sanding until the rod can be spun with your finger. Then oil the top of the rod and replace all the lower parts. I have fixed tight repo switch rods a couple times this way.
This suggestion may save you the trouble of pulling the column back out. It would be better anyway to modify the replaceable repo light/horn rod by sanding it instead of filing the steering shaft hole larger. Too much and you've got a different problem.
Marshall

[Marshall V. Daut]

Doggone it!!! "Mitch//pa" types faster (and shorter) than I do. Same suggestion. Great minds think alike, don't they?
Marshall

[mlp623]

Originally Posted by Paul

Upper bushing looked fine, so I left it in place.
levers work nice.
Sounds like I will be pulling it apart to clean and sand.
Sure seems like I have to build a car twice to get it right once..

If the rub is at the steering upper bushing you don't need to pull it off the car again. You can take the spider and retainer out of the light body and push up the horn rod to easily access the first 3"-6" up at the steering wheel. Then you can sand it down a bit. Some graphite may help as well.

[Mitch//pa]

10-4..

i left out the oil or synthetic grease lube for the bushing

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Minerva's rod wuz tight, made a playdough dam, around the light switch, filled it with 2 cycle oil, & 3 days later, it was perfect.
Bill W.

[Big hammer]

Why 2 cycle oil I thought MMO was the go to oil

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Big hammer

Why 2 cycle oil I thought MMO was the go to oil

Yo,THUD,
Jist had it handy & it also freed up my speedomometer when I drilled some 1/16" holes in the main shaft area & injected sum 2 cycle oil with a syringe & laid it in the sun for 3 days I wuz afraid to try EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL BUT, I found that Olive Oel does wonders for OLD leather!!
Bill W.

[DANA BIZZELL]

My steering column had a burr in the top three inches, ran a drill in it and smoothed it up.
Thanks
Dana

[Bruce Lancaster]

This probably isn't the problem, since the thing does not turn with steering wheel, but be aware that the key in shaft taper for the steering wheel is not a normal Woodruff key...it is a Ford part with slightly shallower bottom curve than a Woodruff so that the key does not push into the light switch shaft.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lancaster

This probably isn't the problem, since the thing does not turn with steering wheel, but be aware that the key in shaft taper for the steering wheel is not a normal Woodruff key...it is a Ford part with slightly shallower bottom curve than a Woodruff so that the key does not push into the light switch shaft.

GREAT piece of info, Bruce,
I never knew about that! In a pinch, you could grind the bottom of a STANDARD key.
Bill W.

[Paul]

Pulled the column, damaged the new horn rod removing it,
Polished up the old original horn and light switch and put it back in.
Like I should have done to begin with.
Works nice and smooth and has that touch of "fair wear and tear" to look right in this car.